Tag: 5K race

5K…

I did my first 5K for the year; first one since last October. I can’t say that I enjoy these as much as I did when I could run and when I was faster. Now-a-days I walk and, well, my current walking pace for a 5K is about what my old marathon walk pace was (in 2001), and by no means am I “legal” (I would be disqualified for a “bent knee” violation; in a judged race walk, your supporting leg has to be straight (the leg moving forward is bent).

I did my stretches, drove down, walked just over a mile to warm up (15 minute pace), did the 5K (mild sleet and some wind), walked another mile and went home.

There I did pull ups (the usual 30 reps of crunch singles, then sets of 5, 5, 5, 4, 4, 4 with 2 single penalty reps. Few of those were chin ups.

Downstairs for bench: 5 x 134, then 8 sets of 2 x 170 (2 min rest for first 6 sets, 3 min for the final 2), 2 x 155 pause (exhausted). High incline Swiss bar: 10 x 64, 5 x 95, 2 + 3 x 95, 8 x 84. That was it..I was exhausted.

What is comical is that my race today was all but identical to my 5K in October, even to my having to take a break after mile 2 because I went too fast in mile 2. (I kept moving but slower for a while..did that twice, the second time at 2.7)

My place was (predictably) abysmal: 72 out of 101..but yes, I WAS walking in a running race and yes, I have not trained to walk faster, and it showed.

I cannot do well what I don’t practice; so between now and Steamboat, I’ll have to do some faster paced walking, in bits.

Yesterday, I caught some of the softball game; Bradley started out with a 2-0 lead over Murray State and lost 5-3.

Yesterday, PT and a rather pedestrian walk (5K) I count this as 3.14 miles; I used the distance correction app on Strava.

2019 in review

Here is my 2019 in review. I posted photos that are meaningful to me. The first one is collage of “friend” photos.

Here is the “where” (many of the “wheres” anyway)

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

The TBK Bank Quad Cities Marathon

October


November

December

Thanksgiving..went ok..

I didn’t stuff myself..maybe I am a bit too full…but a lot of it is simple salad.

Chocolate Turkey run, 2019

Well, I did hex deadlifts yesterday and felt it today; yes, I was out of breath early (9:12 mile) and hung on for 28:10.

It was 32 F. I jogged from home to warm up, walked back home to cool down (7 miles total) and, well, I was hurting just a bit in the first mile. I did see people on the return leg; I kind of like the new course. And it was the largest of these I have done.

I did walk briefly during mile 2 but that really didn’t slow me much.

Past versions of this race (different courses)

2013 24:56
2014 24:53
2015 26:02
2016 26:54
2018 26:43
2019 28:10

Oh boy…not the best progression; I really think the weights had something to do with it.

Later: lunch with the whole crew at Alexander’s then football on TV.

North Dakota State Visits and a 5K

Saturday: I did a small university 5K; finished 43 of 69 (lots of students) 39/37 among the males and 1’st over 60 (not many older people) with a time of 28:26. It was a good day to run but I gave up for a couple of minutes after the second mile; I attempted to pick it up but, well…the legs were a bit heavy, again.

I got to meet up with Mike ..an oldtime rival. I first met him when I chased him at the Crime Stoppers 5K in 1996; he was under 22 and I was just over 22 for that one. We were a bit slower this time around.

Then I picked up Mat for a trip to Illinois State to watch the North Dakota State Bison; they have won 7 of the last 8 FCS Championships. They were in championship form and won 37-3 in a game that was reflected by the final score. ISU made a first down early but then fumbled; and it took NDSU little time to cash in. Next drive: same thing.

To see how it went:

This call was reviewed…and stood..knee down just prior to the ball breaking the plane. So first and goal at the half yard line; two running plays got stuffed..then a sack..and then an incomplete pass. Zero points from this drive.

Yes, they had a good crowd initially, but it dwindled.

Oh, Illinois got creamed by Minnesota 40-17 and gave up 480 yards plus, mostly on running.

Yikkes.

I did get a nice sunset though

And this morning..a lazy day and a 10 mile walk to and from the goose loop. It went ok.

Racing and Cardinals

Saturday was eventful.

AM: Strides for Justice 5K with Tracy. I know that my usual competition got away; my warm up was dead, dead, dead. The course was wet and it was humid..very, very humid. But the rain storm was over. And my warm up showed me that I was dead.

First mile was 8:54 (downhill) and I was tracking Mary Sue and a woman in black tights. I was to catch neither though I gained on the latter.
Next was 9:15 (mix of down and up) to get to 18:10; last 1.1 (uphill) took forever (11:30; at least I didn’t walk it in).

Then to Indian buffet, then to St. Louis to watch the Cardinals lose to the Cubs 8-6; the Cubs sprang out to a 6-0 lead via 4 home runs off of the starting Cardinal pitcher. The Cubs rallied and pulled to 6-5 but then the Cubs extended it. Ironically: the Cubs are out of playoff contention and the Cardinals clinched the division with a win. They got the win today 9-0.

The Arch was near the hotel.

Yes, if there is a 6′ 7″ “jack in the box” that stands up for anything, he will be right in front of me. Guaranteed.
Yes, I’ll still go to games, but the reality is that many who go aren’t there to watch 100 percent of the action; and if you get an aisle seat, you’ll have a parade of 300 lb. people going back and forth to the concession stand, right during double plays…my preferred seats are in the middle of the section, first row.

The ball park is beautiful.

There is a restaurant/bar area near the field.

A batter hit by a pitch drew the teams…

A shift vs. a left hand hitter.

Workout catch up

Friday: weights only; back is better but not 100 percent so I limited my lower body to 6 x 35, 50, 50 and 3 x 60 goblet squats.
pull ups: 5 sets of 10, one of 5
bench: 10 x 135, 4 x 155 pause, 10 x 155 decline
usual rotator cuff
military: 2 sets of 10 x 40 standing (very gingerly), 2 sets of 10 x 90 seated,
rows: 3 sets of 10 x 110
2:30 plank,
lots of back.

Saturday 5K race in 29:40; enough warm up and cool down to get 5
Sunday: afternoon, easy 4 mile Cornstalk walk. wet. Dead. Race was dead too.

Bridge to Bridge 2019

Workout this morning: Yoga with Ms. V, then an easy 5 mile walk. Back is a bit sore; had better take it easy in the weight room tomorrow.

Yesterday: Bridge to Bridge 4 mile. I’ll post the history after I bring my old blog back (though I’ll stick with this blog from now on)

The skinny: 60’s, decent weather; picked up Tracy, warmed up just over a mile with very dead legs (20.37 walk yesterday, which included 10 miles in 2:09)

I didn’t get my splits though I do remember being 18:20 at the half way clock..finished in 36:53 (which included the Cedar Street Bridge climb and down).
The key is that I kept it steady until I saw a rival..one I really think that I should be beating. He was way ahead so in the long straight away I picked it up to catch him; I couldn’t (21 seconds) but I had wish I had gotten it in gear earlier. I think that I held back for too long.

Still, I’ve done worse..but still I am sliding.

2012: 35:29 for 4.2
2013 33:38
2014: 34:37 (140/531, 102/249 male)
2015: 36:18
2016: 35:28 (139/421, 96/189 male)
2018: 39:58
2019: 36:53 (148/314, 100/148 male)

I’ve slid from “median male” to “median finisher.”

But..I had fun and here are my photos…all have meaning for me for one reason or another:

Workout catch up (again)

I am writing away and preparing for the start of classes. So things might get behind here.

Friday: weights only; rotator cuff, pull ups (5 sets of 10: strong), bench: 10 x 135, 3 x 185, incline 10 x 135, decline 10 x 165, goblet squats: 6 x 30, 50, 60, 4 x 70, military: barbell: 1 x 95, fail with 115, 1 x 105 (hard), 6 x 95, 10 x 80, rows: 3 sets of 10 x 110 machine, hex: 4 x 175, 4 x 215 (hard), headstand, planks.

Saturday: Zoo run run race plus 1 mile warm up, 1 cool down. 29:12 (9:27, 9:53, 9:51). Best time since 2015. Cool weather.

Sunday: walk 5 miles after Indianapolis trip.

The course (which I wonder if it was really 5K, given that the first place finisher did NOT lap me and I was 19:20 at 2 miles) is a sharp downhill, level, uphill, downhill, uphill, flat for 400 meters..and features a lot of twists and turns. It is both interesting and tough to run hard on; sort of a XC on crumbly pavement type of thing.

Tracy finished lap 2 about 30 seconds before I finished so I did her lap with her.

During the race I had caught up to MarySue at the end of lap 1 but couldn’t sustain it..she was to finish 8 seconds ahead of me.

Strangely enough, my paces: 28/80 overall, 14/32 men, 1/3 55-59 M, were not that bad.

Sort of warm walk

It was even hotter than on June 29. Whew. Of course, part of this was that I started later. And I went in reverse order; to the River first then back via boredom.

Total time was 4:29:07 and I did 1:18 for the final 5 (15:36 pace). Total pace was 16:45 ish…it was HOT. And I didn’t push it.

I got a late start due to being dragged to a play, but then again I chose to run yesterday.

Yesterday’s 5K: sweltering conditions and 8:53 was too fast for mile 1 in such conditions, so I ended up walking and jogging 15 minutes into it and struggled in at 29:57, sprinting (as much as I can) to get under 30. Oh well.

This was the Run for the Health of it that I’ve done many times before.

Weekend: 5 yesterday (warm up, cool down) and 16 today.

Almost 5K; almost a complete race

In one of my early Peoria area races, back in June, 1997, I ran the Metamora Lincoln-Douglas “3 mile” (about 3.07 miles) in 20:38. I remember mile 1: a runner named “Sue Boast” was with the group as we ran past and a volunteer called out the time. One runner didn’t hear it..I and for some reason Sue saying “Six Twenty Five” stuck with me. According to my log, I was to get to mile 2 in 13:07. My time equates to about a 20:50 5K, and I ran..surprisingly, a 20:52 just a week later (on a warmer day). I wrote in my log “too fast, mile 1.”

Well, today I didn’t run a 6:25 first mile. I got there in 8:10 which, yes, is my fastest mile since 2015 and my 17:07 was my fastest 2 mile since 2016. And no, I couldn’t sustain it; I fell apart on the final 1.06, walking 3 times (really, too many…should have gutted it out better than that).

Perhaps the first mile split was a tiny bit short, but I was way too close to people who usually finish way ahead of me.

Rule of thumb: if I am right with a bunch of people that actually LOOK like runners, I am probably going too fast to sustain the pace.

Final time: 28:05 (about 9:09 mpm or 28:22 for a 5K). This would have been a decent time for me last year, but I am capable of better this year…PROVIDED I pace myself better.